His main enemies were the
Bahmani Sultanate, the
Deccan Sultanates, the
Gajapatis of
Odisha, who had been involved in constant conflict since the rule of
Saluva Narasimha Deva Raya, and Portugal, a rising maritime power which controlled much of the sea trade.
Success in the Deccan The raid and plunder of Vijayanagara towns and villages by the Deccan sultans came to an end during the Raya's rule. In 1509, Krishnadevaraya's armies
clashed with them and
Sultan Mahmud was severely injured and defeated.
Yusuf Adil Shah was killed and the
Raichur Doab was annexed. Taking advantage of the victory, the Raya reunited
Bidar,
Gulbarga, and
Bijapur into Vijayanagara and earned the title "establisher of the Yavana kingdom" when he released Sultan Mahmud and made him de facto ruler. The Sultan of Golconda
Sultan Quli Qutb Shah was defeated by Timmarusu, the prime minister of Krishnadevaraya. In 1513, Krishnadevaraya personally engaged in battle with Golconda Sultan Quli Qutb Shah at Pangal. The Vijayanagar army suffered defeat at the hands of the Golconda forces, resulting in the capture of the Pangal fort from Vijayanagar. As a consequence, Raya was compelled to retreat.
War with Kalinga . The
Gajapatis of Odisha ruled a vast land comprising parts of
Bengal,
Andhra, and
Odisha. Krishnadevaraya's success at Ummatur provided the necessary impetus to carry his campaign into the coastal Andhra region, which was under the control of the Gajapati king
Prataparudra Deva. The Vijayanagara army laid siege to the
Udayagiri fort in 1512. The campaign lasted for a year before the Gajapati army disintegrated due to starvation. Krishnadevaraya offered prayers at
Tirupati thereafter, along with his wives Tirumala Devi and Chinnama Devi. The Gajapati army was then met at
Kondaveedu. The armies of Vijayanagara, after establishing a siege for a few months, began to retreat due to heavy casualties.
Timmarusu discovered a secret entrance to the unguarded eastern gate of the fort and launched a night attack. This culminated with the capture of the fort and the imprisonment of Prince Virabhadra, the son of Prataparudra Deva. Vasireddy Mallikharjuna Nayaka took over as governor of
Kondaveedu thereafter. Krishnadevaraya planned an invasion of
Kalinga, but Prataparudra learned of this plan and formulated his own plan to defeat the former at the fort of
Kalinganagar. Timmarusu discovered Prataparudra's plan by bribing a Telugu deserter from the service of Prataparudra. When the Vijayanagara Empire did invade, Prataprudra was driven to
Cuttack, the capital of the
Gajapati Kingdom. Prataparudra eventually surrendered to the Vijayanagara Empire, and gave his daughter, Princess Jaganmohini, in marriage to Krishnadevaraya. Krishnadevaraya returned all the lands that the Vijayanagara Empire had captured north of the
Krishna River; this made the Krishna river the boundary between the Vijayanagara and Gajapati Kingdoms. Krishnadevaraya established friendly relations with the
Portuguese in
Goa in 1510. The Emperor obtained guns and Arabian horses from the Portuguese merchants. He also utilized Portuguese expertise to improve the water supply to the Vijayanagara capital.
Final conflicts The complicated alliances of the empire and the five
Deccan sultanates meant that he was continually at war. In one campaign, he defeated
Golconda and captured its commander Madurul-Mulk, crushed
Bijapur and its sultan
Ismail Adil Shah, and restored the
Bahmani sultanate to the son of . The highlight of his conquests occurred on 19 May 1520 where he secured
Raichur Fort from Ismail Adil Shah after a difficult siege in which 16,000 Vijayanagara soldiers were killed. The exploits of the military commander,
Pemmasani Ramalinga Nayudu of the
Pemmasani Nayaks, during the
Battle of Raichur were distinguished and lauded by Krishnadevaraya. It is said that 700,000 foot soldiers, 32,600 cavalry, and 550 elephants were used. A Portuguese contingent commanded by Cristovão de Figueiredo with the use of fireweapons helped to conquer the fortress. Krishnadevaraya was brutal towards Bahmani Generals of Raichur. Many
Bahmani generals lost their lands. The other Muslim kings sent envoys to the emperor on hearing of his success and received a haughty reply. The king conveyed that if Adil Shah would come to him, do obeisance, and kiss his foot, his lands would be restored to him. The submission never took place. Krishnadevaraya then led his army as far north as
Bijapur and occupied it. He imprisoned three sons of a former king of the
Bahmani dynasty, who had been held captive by the Adil Shah and he proclaimed the eldest as king of the
Deccan. Finally, in his last battle, he razed to the ground the fortress of
Gulburga, the early capital of the
Bahmani sultanate. == Later life and death ==